Big Sky Fine Art has dated this French Navy Battleship Painting to the 1910s.
French ( b.XIX - d.XX ).
A La Mémoire De Courbet.
Gouache & Watercolour On Buff Paper.
Signed Lower Right.
Image size 16.5 inches x 27.5 inches ( 42cm x 69.5cm ).
Frame size 25.8 inches x 38.6 inches ( 65.5cm x 98cm ).
The creator is not listed as an artist in journals or art indexes but it is likely that the artist was a sailor serving on the warship.
It is presented and supplied in a sympathetic contemporary wooden frame (which is shown in these photographs).
The paper surface has benefitted from cleaning, restoration and conservation, which was performed on our instruction, supervision and approval.
This antique painting is in a good sound condition providing heightened decoration and historical record for many decades to come. The buff colouration of the paper and the paint pigments perfectly represents the aesthetics of the era in which it was created. It wants for nothing and is supplied ready to hang and display.
The painting is signed lower right.
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This is a wonderful original painting in gouache and watercolour of the French Navy Ironclad Warship Courbet which dates from around 1910 – 1912. It is likely that the artist was a sailor serving on the warship.
The painting depicts a warship with three masts, flying the French tricolour flags and the lifebuoy on the rocks in the bottom left corner is inscribed with the words “A la mémoire de Courbet”.
The Courbet was part of the French Navy’s ironclad Courbet Class Central Battery ships, built in from the late 1870s to early 1880s. The Courbet Class were the largest central battery ships ever built and comprised the Courbet and the Devastation.
The ship was originally named Foudroyant (‘Lightning”), but she was renamed to honour the great French Admiral Amédée Courbet in 1885. Anatole-Amédée-Prosper Courbet (1827-1885) won a series of important land and naval victories during the Tonkin Campaign (1883-860 and the Sino-French War (1884- 1885). He then died of cholera and was commemorated as something of a national hero and given a state funeral. The Courbet shown here was the first of three French naval vessels named after this wise and intelligent Commander.
The Courbet’s notable dates are:
Laid down 19 July 1875
Launched 27 April 1882, as Foudroyant
Commissioned 20 October 1886, as Courbet
Decommissioned 4 January 1903
Stricken 5 February 1909
Fate Sold for scrap, 25 August 1910
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Big Sky Fine Art has dated this French Navy Battleship Painting to the 1910s.
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French Navy Ironclad Battleship. A La Mémoire De Courbet. Circa 1910. Framed Gouache & Watercolour Painting. A Sailor's Sentimental Tribute to His Ship and Shipmates.
